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2014 MLB Draft: What to expect from the Boston Red Sox

A.J. Reed

Kentucky's A.J. Reed swings to hit a double to score Kentucky's first of four runs in the ninth during an NCAA college baseball regional tournament game in Louisville, Ky., Saturday, May 31, 2014. Kentucky defeated Kent State 4-2. Some have projected the Red Sox will take Reed with their first pick in the MLB Draft tonight. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)
(Timothy D. Easley)

The first two rounds of the MLB First-Year Player Draft will be chosen tonight beginning at 7 p.m. on MLB Network and live-streaming on MLB.com.

Rounds three through 10 will take place tomorrow beginning at 1 p.m. Rounds 11 through 40 will take place on Saturday at 1 p.m.

The basics:The Red Sox have three picks tonight: No. 26 and No. 33 in the first round and No. 67 in the second round.

Teams pick in reverse order of their records from the previous year. By virtue of having tied with St. Louis for the best record in the majors last season, Boston will have the second to last pick in the first round at No. 26. (St. Louis had a better 2012 record than Boston and therefore gets the last pick.)

The Red Sox picked up an additional pick at No. 33 in the first round thanks to free agent Jacoby Ellsbury signing with New York.

What the Red Sox might do:

This draft has been somewhat of a wildcard with a mix of strong arms and bats, making it much harder to predict who will go where.

The Red Sox have favored pitching the last few seasons, taking left-hander Trey Ball with their top pick last year and right-hander Matt Barnes with their first pick in 2011. Shortstop Deven Marrero was sandwiched in between as the top Boston pick in 2012.

With their first three picks in the last five drafts, Boston has taken eight pitchers and seven position players. With a slew of arms in the system, the Red Sox lack a true power bat seems to be void. If there's one still on the table at 26 - they'll likely go that route.

What the experts are saying:

Baseball America's John Manuel: Manuel has Boston choosing left-hander Kyle Freeland out of University of Evansville. Freeland sparkled in the Cape League last summer, leading the league in with 48 strikeouts and four walks in 40 innings. He earned All-League honors. This season at Evansville, he went 10-2 with a whopping 128 strikeouts in 99.2 innings while walking just 13.

Manuel has the Red Sox taking North Carolina high school 1B/OF Braxton Davidson at No. 33.

MLB.com's Jim Callis: Callis has the Red Sox sticking with pitching and going for a riskier move with UNLV RHP Erick Fedde because they also have pick No. 33. Fedde dominated in the Cape League last summer with a 2.34 ERA in five starts, compiling 26 strikeouts and just eight walks in 30.2 innings. But in early May, Fedde found out he'd need Tommy John surgery and will be out for a least through the end of the calendar year. He had hit 97 on the radar gun and had a 1.76 ERA with 82 strikeouts and 21 walks up to that point.

Perfect Game in conjunction with Baseball Prospectus: The group of experts here has Stanford third baseman Alex Blandino as the Red Sox's first pick. Blandino has played two straight summers in the Cape League and is the only player to earn All-Star and All-League honors both times. He's a scrappy, aggressive infielder. Blandino was among the top 10 hitters for average in the league last summer with a .308/.363/.454 slash line. He had 11 doubles, two triples and a homer. For Stanford this spring, he hit .312/.399/.540 with 30 strikeouts and 29 walks in 215 at-bats.

ESPN's Keith Law: Law has the Red Sox taking Kentucky two-way player A.J. Reed in his final mock. The 6-foo-4, 240-pound Reed earned SEC Player of the Year honors as well as National Player of the Year honors by Collegiate Baseball magazine.

Reed led all of college baseball in homers (23), slugging (.768) and OPS (1.259) and was first in the SEC in RBIs (70), on-base percentage (.491), wins (11), walks (47) and total bases (162).